Are you feeling like this when it comes to your social media efforts?
This Social Media Thing is Too Much!
Yes, you have done it all. You have your Twitter account, you have your Facebook account, you are on other sites, you are writing great blogs, and you have a gazillon friends. You are raring to go, ready to conquer the world and get your pages and your business up the rankings.
Weeks pass, you tweet all the time. You get tons of @. Your FB fans love you. You made connections with every country in the world. This is going great.
You check your stats. Traffic hasn’t changed much. You check your sales. Still the same. All you keep thinking is: all this tweeting and posting and status updates have done NOTHING. You feel like doing this:
Well, we are here to help. Here are 5 “big picture” tips to make the best of your Social Media Expectations, with the understanding that you should ALWAYS follow the #1 Non-Negotiable Rule of Social Media: Always be yourself, don’t stop being yourself, genuinely connect with others, and NEVER just shout out your awesome business opportunity 24/7. People will tune you out immediately.
Here goes:
1. Start small, stay focused: Target one thing. What does your business want to do online? Launch one product? Shout out a new announcement? At v5, we went into social media with one goal: promote Fernando Varela. That is it. And we because of this focus, we have just begun to grow and expand to other parts of our business, after 9 months of just focusing on Fernando.
2. Social Media Time = Appointment Time: Treat your daily Social Media like a business appointment. Treat it like a client. Add it to your calendar and work it. Rinse, repeat, and do it again the next day.
3. Engage, engage, engage: Remembering the #1 Non-Negotiable Rule of Social Media, submerge yourself and interact with your base. Be friendly, positive, initiate the conversation, push your stuff authentically and with honesty. You would be surprised what happens when you reach out in a geunine way, and not in a “check out my business now or else” way.
4. Be social, but not always: Saying hi and saying “this social media thing is awesome, I have met so many people” can only go so far. Start understanding what your different groups need and then provide that need. For example, when we launched Publish on @PublishGroup, we focused on the book publishing community, who are struggling to understand how the digital content movement is disrupting their world. So, what we do everyday is find relevant links about these challenges and tweet about them. We believe this adds value to that community.
5. Find a purpose and refocus: Yeah, we know this sounds like the first one, but it is an important one: if you find yourself just laughing and joking and having fun with your groups (and that is not a bad thing) and feel your work is being ignored, stop, and say: “My next tweet/post/update is going to add value to my online world.” Find something interesting (news, blog, event) that pertains to your group and post it. Redirect yourself, and then have fun after you feel this ship is right.
Pretty soon, you will be feeling like this. Hit it, JB!
#2 on your list is HUGE
We agree totally. As someone who has run a very successful t-shirt business with social media, you are a testament to how it gets done right. Mmmh, might there be a new blog about Brands that Succeed Online down the road? Maybe….
I always liken social media to a networking event. Would you walk up to someone, in person, and say, “Hey guess what? I own a PR firm and we ROCK!” Noooo, you wouldnt. You would, however, introduce yourself, listen to the already happening conversation, and add your expertise, opinion, or thoughts when appropriate. At some point someone says, “What do you do?” and you exchange business cards.
Social media is the same, but you exchange business cards and then you continue talking to those people every day. Which keeps you top-of-mind so that when/if there is a need for your product/service, your network refers you.
The best part is the journey you take as you navigate. You meet some amazing people, that is true.
Julio, I agree with what you have written. What I truly appreciate is the tone which you’ve used to write these suggestions. So many write the “be all and end all” about how one MUST do social media, and tend to use a belittling, patronizing tone as if the reader is not very smart if they haven’t been doing it that way. You let people know it’s okay if they are off-track, and there are some simple things that can be done to turn it around. Knowing these are not your personality characterisitcs, this isn’t a surprise, but it’s important so I’m thanking you for that. Nice job!
Thank you so much for that amazing comment. We truly believe everyone is an expert and with the right tools, individuals can conquer what ever they like online.
Thank you Julio. I have high expectations for myself
Just like Pujols… More to come about you. Have to interview you soon as well.
Too many of us often forget the “social” part of social media. If you are the insurance guy at the party who is simply prowling for new clients, you will be shunned and miss out on the networking opportunities social media has to offer. Give and you will get.
What a perfect way to put that. Build the relationships first. Worry about the biz later, much later.
Very well done Julio – this guidance is especially useful to the professional services world… and as Raul commented – give (I will add always) and you will get.
Thank you, Greg. I do try to speak from the world I know, which is professional services and not just speak Internetese just because. I truly appreciate the support, and as we all work through the challenges of social media, it is always good to have such a great network of friends out there to toss ideas and support one another.